Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has urgedcentral localities to redouble efforts to cope with the prolonged heat wave,drought and saltwater intrusion in the region.

A dispatch to this effect was sent to thePeople’s Committees of Da Nang city and the provinces of Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, HaTinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh,Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan.

The PM also gave the command to the CentralSteering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, along with theministries of agriculture and rural development; industry and trade; naturalresources and environment; information and communications; health;construction; labour, invalids and social affairs; finance; and planning andinvestment.

Prolonged and widespread heat has been recordedin the central and Central Highlands regions since the beginning of thesummer-autumn crop. In particular, extreme heat occurred from June 9 to 12 andfrom June 20 to 23 with the highest temperatures of between 37 and 40 degreesCelsius.

The region has also witnessed a sharp decline inrainfall since the beginning of the crop compared to the average. Water levelsin many irrigation and hydropower reservoirs have dropped to 20 – 60 percent oftheir designed storage capacity. Many small ones have even dried up.

The Vietnam Meteorological and HydrologicalAdministration forecast heat will linger in the central region, especially itswestern areas, while water flow in rivers will continue declining, particularlyin Quang Nam, Binh Dinh and Phu Yen.

It also predicted the possibility of widespreaddrought and water scarcity, which will seriously affect local residents’ lives.

Facing this situation, PM Phuc told ministries,sectors and localities to take urgent measures to deal with it.

In a report sent to the PM on July 23, theMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development said about 65,500ha of rice andannual crops in the central region will suffer from drought and water scarcityif extreme heat continues until the end of the dry season, which falls in lateJuly in the northern part of the central region and late August in the southernpart of this region. About 138,800 local households may also face watershortage.

In the region’s northern areas, drought andwater scarcity have hit about 21,600ha of rice and other crops, accounting for4.5 percent of their total farming area. Meanwhile, 16,340ha in the southernareas have been affected, equivalent to 4.6 percent of the total.

As a result of saltwater intrusion, watershortage has been reported on 5,800ha of plants and affected nearly 114,000households in the central region.-VNA